OBERKNEZEV, Mirjana Novi Sad, Serbia

PROFILED WATERPROOFING SHEET WITH VERTICAL HAUNCH-REINFORCED RIBS FOR PROTECTION AND REPAIR OF MASSIVE BUILDINGS WITHOUT WALL SUBSIDENCE AND THE

PROCESS OF APPLICATION

Technical Field

The field of engineering covering the invention generally belongs to the field of construction, more closely to the field of waterproofing equipment and in particular to the sheet with supporting vertical haunch-reinforced ribs, which is applied for protection against moisture of cultural monuments and buildings of great historical and cultural significance and other structures, regardless of wall thickness and the type of material they are made of, which require great precision in the process of the works.

According to the International Patent Classification (IPC, 2019.01), the subject matter of the invention is classified and marked with the basic classification symbol E04B 1/62 relating to the insulation of buildings in general, and with the secondary classification symbols E02D 31/02 covering accessories for protection against moisture or underground water, that is, E04F21/00, which defines tools for laying insulation or sealing layers, as well as E04G 23/06, indicating works on existing buildings: e.g. development of a new substructure.

Technical Problem

The technical problem to be solved by the subject invention consists in the following: how to construct a sheet reinforced by haunches positioned at the joints of vertical supporting ribs with the base plate of the sheet and the method of its incorporation in buildings, especially the massive walls of monasteries, churches, palaces (cultural monuments), etc., to achieve permanent horizontal waterproofing and effective protection against capillary moisture and groundwater, characterized by an increased bearing capacity to vertical load of at least 52.8% compared to existing HIO rails, with its installation in the walls done by a certain procedure of protection without gaps making it a consistent load-bearing element that completely takes over load from the upper parts of the building, so that the entire protection procedure is done without deformation, regardless of wall thickness and the type of material from which it is made, and without disturbing the static stability of the building, wall subsidence and cracking, fissures and other damage.

Background Art

Capillary moisture is present in all old buildings that do not have horizontal waterproofing in their foundation walls or the insulation put years ago has deteriorated. Special plasters, penetrates, covering walls with various coatings, wall injection with various solutions in combination with restoration mortars only temporarily solve the problem, as after two to three years the procedure needs to be repeated.

The only way to permanently stop capillary moisture is to completely cut the wall and build in a new horizontal watertight barrier, taking care not to cause building subsidence and uncontrollable cracking in walls, which is an inevitable consequence of wall cutting.

Today, several methods are used in the world for subsequent horizontal waterproofing, the most common of which are:

- The system of wall injection with various solutions is based on drilling a large number of holes of different diameters and lengths, on both sides of the wall, into which chemical solutions are then injected to form a waterproof membrane in the wall after crystallization. The disadvantages of this procedure are: there is no way to establish that the injected solution has actually formed a continuous membrane in the wall and thus prevented further penetration of capillary moisture, the application on stone structure is problematic and because of the large number of holes the build statics is compromised since the holes are generally not filled with mortar after injection. It should be emphasized that this procedure cannot be effectively applied to old structures built with mixed building materials (brick + stone + brick), as well as to loose and non-compacted walls.

- HW method based on the direct embossing of corrugated steel or aluminum plates, using a vibrating hydraulic press through the masonry wall joints. The disadvantage of this process is reflected primarily in building loosening, impaired stability and load-bearing capacity, the existence of overlaps between the panels which are unreliable as they can allow moisture penetration, pronounced subsidence and cracking of the building, the absence of bonding material, which in the case of seismic disturbances can cause the building to "slide". It is also noted that the procedure cannot be applied to old stone masonry and to loose and non- compacted walls.

- ISOLCOMER method based on cutting walls, which is done exclusively through joints, with cutting is carried out in segments 20-120 cm wide, the height of cuts is 8-14 mm, and then into the cuts thus made waterproofing tape is inserted that can be bitumen, technical PVC film, elastic-rigid fiberglass sheets. The tapes in the cut overlap each other with folds of 5-10 cm. To prevent cut wall subsidence, plastic wedges (zeppe) are knocked in perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the wall, which are expected to take on the load from the top of the building.

The disadvantage of this method is the inability to repair massive walls, as well as to repair stone walls and walls of mixed materials: brick + stone + brick due to the appearance of uneven building subsidence and cracking of reconstructed walls, which occurs as a result of incomplete reliance of the cut wall on the knocked in wedges.

- IGROSTOP method based on horizontal cutting of walls, with which plastic rails x- shaped in the cross section are knocked in to create a watertight barrier. To prevent the cut wall from subsiding due to the difference in height between the rail itself and the upper surface of the cut, plastic wedges (zeppe) of up to 25 cm in length are knocked in directly into the longitudinal axis of the wall. The disadvantage of this process, as well as the shortcoming of the igostrop rail structure, in addition to having its function reduced to creating a watertight barrier, is that it is resistant to high static loads that lead to uneven building subsidence and cracking of repaired walls, which is why in repair spots wedges are knocked in which are also inefficient for thicker walls as the wall core remains uncovered.

- UMIBLOK S method is based on the sole requirement of creating a watertight barrier, with the cut being made by cutting the wall at a height of up to 16 mm, which results in a difference in height between the rail itself and the upper surface of the cut. This space is filled by the injection of mortar taking on a huge load from the upper sections of the cut wall, which is insufficient and leads to the appearance of micro-cracks.

The disadvantage of this method is in the complexity of the work when installing rails, primarily due to the new properties of mortar and the use of additives for fast curing, which makes it difficult to simply press the rails. The biggest disadvantage in the application of this method is the inability to adjust the rail height to the height of the cut into which it is fitted, as vertical "T" ends are made on vertical ribs.

- HIO method is based on the horizontal cutting of walls in 20-30 cm sections, with 11-13 mm cut height. In the cuts thus made and cleaned, cement mortar is first injected into which the HIO rails are then stitched and fitted by knocking in one after another. This method is protected by patent number 49324B and according to it, the HIO rail is profiled by vertical ribs so that it has a double function: creating a watertight barrier and preventing building subsidence.

The disadvantage of the rail placed by this method is that at high voltages (massive walls) vertical ribs partially deform (bend, distort), which leads to the appearance of micro cracks on buildings with massive walls, such as those in mainly cultural monuments - fortifications, palaces , churches.

The shortcomings mentioned in the analyzes of the methods described above were the starting point for further research on the basis of which a segmental sheet was obtained which solves a above defined technical problem through a specially defined application procedure.

Summary of the Invention

The essence of the invention is the construction of a segmented profiled semi-rigid sheet, made by pulling on a PVC - polyvinyl chloride (hard) extruder with adding of various additives to improve mechanical properties: hardness, tear strength, impact resistance, elasticity, watertightness, for improvement of resistance to various chemical agents (acids, bases, salts), to neutralize thermal influences, as well as with the addition of UV stabilizer for greater resistance to ultraviolet radiation, which, by being inserted into the wall, creates a permanent waterproof barrier, and effectively prevents further capillary moisture of building, with haunches constructed at the junction points of the base plate and vertical ribs to achieve additional consistency, which haunches have been found, by precise tests, to increase the load capacity of the sheet to vertical load by more than 50% compared to the rails in wide use. The essence of the invention is also that massive walls of two, three, five and more meters are cut without any restrictions, and for the successful application of hydroisolation it does not matter what type of building materials the building is constructed from.

The essence of the invention is also that the invention is particularly applicable for permanent protection against capillary moisture on the massive walls of monasteries, churches, palaces (cultural monuments), etc., where there is minimal tolerance for construction works and where no cracks and damage to the walls resulting from subsidence when performing hydroisolation works are allowed.

The novelty of the invention is that the process of cutting and creating horizontal openings for inserting the sheet under consideration is performed with diamond cutting tools with minimum noise and vibration, with cuts in the wall almost imperceptible, and by using injected mass of exceptional adhesion a new coupling resistant to seismic disturbance is formed.

What makes this sheet special compared to similar insulation barriers is the ability to adjust the height of the vertical supporting ribs to the achieved cut height in the wall by single sided and fast grinding of tips, which is important for the quality of the work performed, as the sheets connected in a continuous row take on a huge load from the upper part of the building without subsidence and cracking.

Compared to similar rails, the sheet from this small patent application has several advantages, some of which are most important:

- the only insulation the height of which adjusts to the achieved cut height in the wall

- the time of completion of works on waterproofing is incomparably shorter than with using other methods;

- the price, regardless of the advantages achieved by the application of the device under consideration, is more competitive than that of other waterproofing methods; no special maintenance is required after the waterproofing has been completed;

- the installation of the sheet under consideration significantly increases energy efficiency, as heating of wet, cold walls consumes incomparably more thermal energy;

- although the emphasis of applying the invention is directed to the elimination of moisture in cultural and historical buildings and other buildings of particular importance, its use is recommended in other buildings where there is a need for waterproofing. extreme importance is also reflected in the wide, mass application in the construction of new buildings instead of bitumen insulation, which is of organic origin and as such has a limited duration, up to 15 years, after which wall capillary devastation begins.

Brief Description of Drawings

In order to facilitate the understanding of the invention, the authors, only as an example, refer to the attached drafts of the application where:

- Figure 1 is an axonometric view of the sheet under consideration; Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the sheet under consideration showing the appearance of vertical ribbed supports with reinforcing haunches;

- Figure 3 is a schematic representation of the joining of sheet segments by means of end couplings;

- Figure 4 is an enlarged view of a female coupling;

- Figure 5 is an enlarged view of a male coupling;

Figure 6 is an enlarged detail of a connected coupling of two sheets;

Figure 7 is a schematic view of a sheet inserted into a wall;

Figure 8 is an enlarged view of a female coupling that allows the connection of sheet segments at an angle of 90 °.

Detailed Description of the Invention

The present invention fully solves the above defined technical problem.

As it can be seen from the accompanying drawings, the segmental waterproofing sheet 1 is constructed in such a way that it consists of a horizontal base plate 2 and a perpendicularly vertically oriented supporting ribs 3 made of the same material as the base plate 2. To prove the feasibility of the invention, the sheet 1 is constructed e.g. by pulling on a hard polyvinyl chloride extruder with various additives to improve mechanical properties: hardness, strength, tear strength, impact resistance, elasticity, watertightness, to improve resistance to various chemical agents (acids, bases, salts), to neutralize thermal effects, as well as with the addition of UV stabilizer for greater resistance to ultraviolet radiation, with the note that it can also be made of special alloys or other materials that provide sufficient consistency and durability. The shape and dimensions that ensure the optimum thickness of the base plate 2, the height and thickness of the supporting ribs 3 have been calculated so as to take on the vertical load of the cut wall. The supporting ribs 3 are constructed integrally, perpendicularly to the base plate 2, they are of the same thickness and are symmetrically equally spaced. The spacing between supporting ribs 3 is variable and is determined depending on the load and the static load bearing calculation and their upper edges 4 are convexly rounded, which makes it easier to insert the sheet 1 into a notch made on the wall where the waterproofing is carried out.

It should be noted that in order to eliminate the gap between the sheets 1 and the resting wall surface, before installing the height of the supporting ribs 3, each sheet 1 is sanded to the height of the cut in the segment. This implies that the height of the cut in one segment is not uniform, so it is easiest, fastest and simplest to adjust the height of supporting ribs 3 to the height of the cut before the sheet 1 is incorporated in the treated building.

The length of sheet 1 may be infinite, but it is determined during incorporation by the width of the wall on which the waterproofing is performed. As the length of the sheet 1 depends on the thickness of walls, their connection is, if necessary, performed by means of male couplings and female couplings 5, 6 at the free ends of the sheet segments. The drawings show that the free end of the male coupling 5 is constructed as an integral tubular extension 7 whose outer diameter is slightly smaller than the diameter of the tubular opening 8 made at WO 2021/133181 PCT/RS2020/000002 the center of the female coupling 6, wherein the diameter of the inner opening 11 is equal to the thickness of the wall of the tubular extension 7. The female coupling 6, in cross-section has the appearance of a modified "U" profile with arms bent 10 at an angle of 45°, with spacing between them slightly larger than the thickness of the base plate 2.

As can be seen from Fig. 6, this construction of male and female couplings 5, 6 allows for an unbreakable joint, and is achieved by extending the tubular extension 7 of the male coupling 5 through the tubular opening 8 of the female coupling 6, wherein a connector 9 that connects the male coupling 5 to the base plate 2 passes through the bent arms 10 on the female coupling 6. Easy connection of the segments of the sheet 1 is made possible by that the couplings 5, 6 are constructed so that the diameter of the tubular extension 7 matches the diameter of the tubular opening 8 increased by 0.50 mm, with the distance between the tips of the arms 10 also increased by 0.50 mm. It should be noted that this type of connecting the sheet 1 significantly increases the speed of waterproofing works, and that the whole process is carried out simply without the use of special tools and does not require special training of handlers.

Plastic profiled semi-rigid sheet 1, according to the invention, at the points of connection to supporting ribs 3, is reinforced by haunches 12, which increase the bearing capacity of the sheet 1 to vertical load by 52.8% compared to the similar HIO rails found today in use. In this way, with precise calculation of the dimensions, number, height and thickness of the supporting ribs 3, their spacing and the structural reinforcement with haunches 12, the sheet 1 can take on complete load from the upper part of the building.

It is particularly emphasized that incorporation of the sheet under consideration previously requires a cut that is almost imperceptible, especially on the facades of stone, marble and artificial stone, so by a simple operation (grouting) restorators make it invisible.

The sheet 1 under consideration was tested for vertical load in the laboratory of Department for Civil Engineering and Geodesy at Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad, and the following results were obtained:

- the mean value of the limit load-bearing capacity (compressive strength) is 10.39 MPa;

- for maximum permissible wall stress at a centric pressure of 1.6 MPa, a mean deformation value of less than 0.3 mm was measured.

On the basis of the conducted test, it was concluded that the installation of the sheet under consideration does not endanger the local and general stability of the walls, as well as of the building as a whole, or that the HIO rail has a satisfactory compressive strength corresponding to conventional masonry mortars and also a satisfactory rigidity, which provides load transfer without wall subsidence, and after curing of the injected mortar, is a unique coupling which provides wall load-bearing capacity and water-permeability in the wall cut zone.

The process of applying the invention takes place in the following stages:

I. Damp walls are completely cut with one of two cutting techniques:

- for thinner brick walls, cutting is carried out through the coupling by means of electric or hydraulic machines having a sword and a saw chain,

- for walls build with stone or mixed materials (brick + stone), cutting is done using hydraulic machines and diamond wire-saw, with cuts being made according to the given level, regardless of joints. Cutting is done in stages, in segments (phases) about 20-30 cm wide, depending on the type of building and wall condition. Depending on the type of cutting tool and the degree of building material devastation, cuts can have different heights, from 8.00 to 13.00 mm, noting that the cutting height is not uniform in one segment.

II. The cut is cleaned and the height is accurately measured over the length of each segment.

III. Prior to installation, the height of the ribs of each sheet is sanded to the height of the cut in the segment.

IV. High-adhesion injection grout is injected into the cuts made using a high-pressure pump.

V. By light hammering, through injection grout, sheet segments are pressed and stitched

(using male and female couplings), one after another, after which the pre-injected grout lines the sheet, forming with it a solid, compact, monolithic and waterproof barrier after binding and crystallization. The sheet 1 with supporting ribs 3 and reinforcing haunches 12 takes over the load from the building wall, thereby completely replacing the joint which is several times stronger than any other old lime mortar joint, with the hardened injected cement-polymer mass.

Example

Cutting and cut injection

If a damp masonry wall built of brick in lime mortar, wall thickness d = 130 cm, is to be hydro-isolated, it is cut through a joint with a diamond wire saw, with a cutting height of 12 mm for this type of machine and cutting tool.

The cut is then mechanically cleaned of loose particles of mortar or brick, aggregate, and then cement-polymeric mass is injected into the cleaned cut with a high-pressure pump, which after polymerization makes a new joint stronger to vertical and horizontal loads.

Preparation and installation of plastic profiled semi-rigid sheet

The total width of the plastic semi-rigid sheet profiled by supporting ribs with haunches is L, the length of the sheet may be unlimited, and the height of the ribs R is h.

For example, we stated that the height of the wall cut was 12 mm and wall thickness was d = 130 cm. From the long piece we cut 140 cm long shet, after which the cut piece is precisely sanded to the height h = 12.20 mm.

Thus prepared sheet with a new height of 12.20 mm is knocked in the injected cut with light hammer blows, with excess height hi of ribs R (hi = 0.20 mm) completely securing the building against subsidence.

Industrial and Other Invetion Methods of Use

The industrial production of the invention in question is possible in factories for the production of plastic objects and equipment, and even in well-equipped craft workshops for the manufacture of plastic products. The invention sheet can be made according to the workshop WO 2021/133181 PCT/RS2020/000002 documentation that can be easily made by experts in this field using the descriptions and drawings in this application.

The invention is suitable for batch production and its use is particularly recommended for the restoration of moisture on massive structures exposed to moisture, such as e.g. monasteries, churches, palaces (cultural monuments), etc.

Tests have shown that such sheet are resistant to high loads, which successfully stops the penetration of capillary moisture from the foundation walls into the upper parts of the building and prevents wall subsidence, which leads to cracks and damage to walls during waterproofing work.

The application of the invention is also recommended in other facilities which are unsuitable for use due to moisture and the walls in which become dry after the installation of the sheet, so that the repaired building changes the micro-climate, becoming a healthy environment with significantly increased energy efficiency, since heating dry walls consumes incomparably less heat.

The significance of the sheet under consideration is expected in wide, mass application in the construction of new buildings instead of bitumen insulation which is of organic origin and as such has a limited duration, up to 15 years, after which wall capillary devastation begins.